Right Here Waiting
by WithDropsofJupiterInHerHair
Summary: After spending the past few years touring the world and becoming an international superstar, Austin brings his tour back to Miami.  But can everyone just pick up where they left off or are things changed forever?
1. The Return of Austin Moon

**So, I'm sorry that this is off to a bit of a slow start, but I've already got plans for this one… I really hope it turns out alright! As always, I don't own the show… if I did Ross would have already realized that we are meant to be together. Okay, that's all!**

* * *

><p>Everyone in Sonic Boom turned their heads toward the television as the anchorman turned the news over to the journalist. The woman in a suit appeared, a stark contrast against the crowd of the scantily-clad teenage girls surrounding her.<p>

"For the first time in two years, international superstar Austin Moon is bringing his tour back to the place where it all started, Miami." she paused for a moment as a few girls screamed from behind her, "Just three years ago, Austin seemingly appeared out of _nowhere _with his viral music video, 'Double Take'. From there he quickly rose to the top, taking over local, then national radio stations with his catchy, upbeat singles. By the time he had released his first studio album, his fans were already demanding a tour… from there Austin began his ascent to superstardom, moving to California and taking the music industry by storm."

I watched the clips flash before my eyes, of all the videos that they had shot in various places around town… his hair was longer then. A few clips of fans screaming in languages I honestly did not know as Austin walks by, on his way to various concerts, shooting winks and award-winning smiles in their direction. Then there were more recent photographs: him playing at Times Square with Lady Gaga just before the countdown (people hadn't stopped talking about it for days); him at the red carpet premiere of his silver-screen debut, _Starstruck_; candid shots snapped by paparazzi during his vacation in Puerto Rico, of him and his girlfriend… London… Paris… Sicily?

Hundreds of girls erupted into screams as the blonde began to make his way to the SUV outside of the airport…Austin had never been one to hide from his fans. The camera zoomed in just in time to catch a wink and a grin to a group who'd proclaimed their love. He made a heart shape with his hands before holding the door for a skinny blonde who'd apparently been trailing a few feet behind him.

As the journalist signed off, I casually hit the power button on the remote, letting my mind go blank as I watched it fade to black.

"Maria?" The brunette looked up from the corner where she had been polishing the acoustic guitars. "You're on the register now… I'm taking my break."

* * *

><p>"…<em>Wherever you go,<em>

_Whatever you do,_

_I will be right here waiting for you._

_Whatever it takes,_

_And how my heart breaks,_

_I will be right here waiting for you._"

"_Waiting for you…_" I echoed, letting the note slowly fade as my fingers danced across the keys, producing a beautiful, familiar melody. As they came to a stop, I allowed my thoughts to wander for a moment in the poignant silence.

"I said, _no running near the instruments!_" Maria shouted, her accent becoming thicker in her frustration as rolls of her tongue dotted her words.

"I know, I know- _I'm sorry!_" A few more exclamations followed, along with a loud _bang_. "I'll pay for that!" The well-known voice offered, noticeably nearer.

Without a knock or signal of arrival, the door swung open and shut within a moment, revealing an equally familiar face. I mirrored his grin as he stood before me, unable to control myself from launching my arms around his scrawny frame.

"Oh my gosh, Dez!" I exclaimed, stepping back and examining his slightly more stylish wardrobe (well, he had finally begun to wear normal colored jeans and his shoes at least matched each other… so that was an improvement.) "How are you?"

"Good, good…" he muttered, his eyes wandering away from me as he examined the renovated practice room, "_Something's _different about this place."

"Dez," I rolled my eyes as a smile spread across my face, truly feeling at home for the first time this summer, "_Everything's _different about this place… well, almost everything." I added eyeing my old piano and the refrigerator that my father swore was too expensive to replace.

"_Oh, _I like what you've done with the windows."

I nodded as I followed his gaze to the only other unchanged piece of the room… vividly remembering the last time they'd been touched and all the chaos that had immediately ensued.

We seemed to lapse into a silence as I stood lamely, watching Dez peruse the room. After a few moments, he strode over to the piano and began tapping a few random keys, and commenting on how well-tuned it sounded.

"_Dez…?_" I prompted, as he cast a confused glance in my direction. "You wanted something?"

His face lit up as everything seemed to rush back to him in a wave of excitement.

"_Oh_," he paused a moment as he recollected his thoughts, seemingly focusing hard as he chose his words… "Austin's back."

I watched him expectantly for a moment, before remembering who I was talking to and realizing that this was apparently the big news.

"So I've heard…"

"We're having a welcome home party on the beach at seven." he finally got to the point, "You know… if you can come."

I froze in place as I mentally began to search my schedule for any little thing that could keep me at the shop tonight… Um, I had to lock up. My dad was out of town. Oh,_ shoot_, today was Wednesday night and every Wednesday night we had to take inventory… of every item in the store… manually.

"He'd really love to see you again." Dez offered, as I looked up to find his focus intimidating and unwavering.

My eyes flickered around the room, before hesitantly making their way back to his grey-blue stare. A fleeting moment later, I could feel my conscience eating me alive.

"Seven?" I don't think he hears my voice squeak as I question, before taking a deep breath and turning to face the window.

"Seven." I automatically turn to face him, his eyes softening and gaining a little more sparkle as a grin spread across his face.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not too sure how that went (first chapters are always quite iffy) but I don't really have anything to say except to review if you want another chapter of the story. It's simple: if you don't tell me what you want, then I'm not going to know.<strong>


	2. Surprise!

**To be completely honest, I dislike most of this chapter. Writing it was like pulling teeth. But at least now I can move on with the story, and that was the most important thing. I hope you all enjoy it more than I did :) **

* * *

><p>Sometime around seven, I found myself wandering around the beach, lost in a crowd of familiar faces. Most of them gave a nod in my direction and exchanged a quick hello, vaguely remembering the girl from the music store. However, some of the younger ones recognized Austin's old partner, and even shocked me by remembering my name.<p>

It was a while before I'd put together what was going on. Finding an empty beach chair, I made myself comfortable as I began to sort through the plan once more: Dez would convince Austin to come surf with him. He'd drive him to the beach, blindfold him, and bring him down. We'd yell 'surprise,' he'd be surprised, then we would proceed with the festivities such as grilling, surfing, and-_of course_-karaoke.

* * *

><p>"Party's here!" My head snapped up at the familiar voice just in time to catch the short brunette throw her hands up in the air.<p>

"Trish?" I exclaimed, standing up.

"Ally!" she made her way toward me and threw her arms around me, "Oh, I missed you!"

"I missed _you!_" I returned her embrace, thinking for a moment, "Wait, Trish… I thought you had a job up at Universal…"

"Yeah, _well_, I decided to take the day off." she let go of me, surveying the party, "So, where's Austin?"

"Dez is picking him up right now- Wait, how did you know about the party in the first place?"

She began to laugh as if I'd told some joke, "_Ally_," she chided, "I have my sources." I raised my eyebrow in question.

"_Dez?_"

"Dez."

My hand flew to my pocket, as my phone began to vibrate with a new message..

"Quiet, people! They're pulling up right now!" boomed Trish, apparently having read the text from over my shoulder.

The steady murmur of conversation diminished into silence as everyone looked around, anticipating his arrival. I ripped my gaze from the crowd at the sound of approaching conversation.

"Dez, I already know that we're going to the beach… you told me to put on my swim trunks, remember? Besides, I can feel the sand through my shoes." I held my breath at the unmistakable voice.

"Alright… but you're still keeping the blindfold on. Besides, you don't know _which _beach we're at."

"_Dez_, we're in _Miami_… what other beach would you be taking me to?"

We could see them now, walking around the corner. Dez trailing Austin, leading Austin with his hands on either shoulder. I almost smiled at the makeshift blindfold, the tie that was missing from around Austin's old plaid shirt, "Almost there…"

Having successfully lead Austin through the mess of beach chairs and plastic tables, Dez began to untie the knot which had held up blindfold. The crowd erupted into a cacophony of 'surprise's as the cloth fell to the sand.

He was obviously shocked, the way the corner of his lip rose up a bit higher than the other as he let loose a nervous laugh. He immediately turned to embrace Dez in a bear-hug, before doing the same to everyone in the circle around him.

It wasn't long before he'd reached the edge of the crowd and began making his way toward where we stood. "Trish!" he shouted, pulling her into an embrace, "You're here, too? It's so awesome to see you- How are you?" He pulled away to get a better look at her.

"Pretty good, I guess." she laughed, "I hear you're doing pretty well, yourself." This earned a chuckle from him as well.

"Yeah, you could say that…" he began to look over the crowd again, seemingly pleased.

I watched, unmoving as his gaze drifted toward me. Our eyes locked for a moment, his shining brown eyes losing their sparkle as they met my own. The grin that had been tugging at the corners of his lips fell completely from his face. My eyes dove to the ground and I suddenly found myself fascinated by the patterns in the sand.

"I- I should go…"

My eyes pleaded for her to stay. A slight expression of guilt spread across her face as she disappeared back into the crowd. I could feel his eyes as they flickered between the crowd and me, seemingly fighting some war inside of himself.

"I figured you'd be in New York." his strangled voice broke our silence.

"Summer break…" I simply answered, regretting not following my instincts and staying home for the evening.

"Is it everything you thought it would be?" If his eyes had lost their sparkle earlier, now they were perfectly lifeless.

"Yeah… Columbia's great." I had to turn away, "How's superstardom?"

Sighing, I watched the waves as they broke just before the shoreline. "Is it everything you ever wanted?"

"_Ally_…"

"You know," I almost felt guilty cutting him off, "I was watching the news this morning and they were showing all these clips. People who didn't even know a word of English were screaming your name… it's got to be amazing to have something like that. I bet you that's what it's like to go on tour, isn't it? All of these incredible, moving little things…"

"Yeah," his let out a frustrated sigh, "It's really great, but I wanted to-"

"You must see so many beautiful places, too: Paris, China, _Puerto Rico_…" I wasn't sure what exactly I meant by that.

"Ally, will you just let me-" his voice was getting louder to match my own, but I still refused to hear him.

"But you must be so busy, so involved in your work all of the time." I plowed ahead, "It must get so hard to keep track of things like calls and emails and personal lives… It must take over your life so much that everything becomes affected by it: your schedule, your home, your identity…"

"And how exactly would you know all this? From all of the-"

"_Hey sweetheart_," the blonde appeared out of nowhere, making her presence known with a peck on his cheek. I felt like I was going to be sick. "Sorry it took me so long to get ready, I was just so nervous about meeting all of your old friends…" she stepped back, turning to look me over, "I don't believe we've met."

I stood there, lamely, unable to find my voice as I looked over the skinny blonde. I couldn't decide what was more fake: her long blonde locks, her golden tan, or her cynical smile.

"_Ally_." he answered for me, looking as if he were in physical pain.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Sydney." Another fake smile was cast in my direction, "It's a shame I haven't met you until now, I've heard so much about you!"

"I wish I could say the same." I returned a tight smile, knowing the words were much truer than they'd seemed.

"_Syd_," he began to introduce us once more, looking just as shocked at his own words as we were, "This is Ally… she'll be going on tour with us."

* * *

><p><strong>Three questions: Who saw that coming? Who wants to see Dallas (anyone?) And who hates Sydney?<strong>


	3. The Story Left Untold

**Before you even start reading this chapter, I want to apologize for the jumping-around that goes on in this chapter… there's just so much that I wanted to get in here. I swear it gets better after the first two jumps. Just stick with me here :)**

* * *

><p>"Beg pardon?" Her soft voice broke the stillness.<p>

My gaze snapped to her face, which wore an expression of shock that mirrored my own. For a moment, my eyes narrowed, infuriated by the thought of sharing anything with this woman, let alone something as intimate as an emotion.

"I said…" I turned to examine Austin, who looked like he was still figuring out what he'd said himself, "Ally's coming on tour with us, for a while." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, mouth pulled in a smirk too tight to be natural.

"Oh," she managed a small smile, still-wide eyes roaming our faces in silent question.

"Yeah… Ally was just wondering what it would be like to be on tour, and without college tying her down to one spot, this would be the perfect chance for her to find out." He tossed a grin in my direction, his mischievous eyes glistening almost darkly. "It'll be just like the old days."

For a moment, her smile fell, as her eyes flickered between the two of us.

* * *

><p>I huffed, throwing my handbag onto the couch as I walked into the living room. For a moment, I stared at the couch before deciding that I'm too angry to sit.<p>

I heard the door shut behind me as Trish tosses the keys onto the table.

"You don't have to do it, you know." she sighed, eyes flickering between where I stood and the couch with a torn expression.

I said nothing, but simply shook my head, watching as passing headlights streamed through the blinds. She was wrong. As they faded away, I opened the blinds to get a better look at the summer stars.

"You don't." She said simply, her voice sounding closer as she continued. "You never said that you would go- heck, you never said _anything!_" I scanned the stars slowly, waiting for her to continue. "He can't just speak for you like that… You have every right to say no. Just tell him you're not coming."

"But I _can't._" I whined. "That's just what he'd expect from me. Ally Dawson: the girl who'd rather watch clouds than a movie. Ally Dawson: the girl who always brings a book to a party. Ally Dawson: the girl who's never been further from home than North Carolina." I sighed, turning away from the window and starting down the hall, "Ally Dawson: the girl who chose college over her best friend's first tour."

* * *

><p>Sometime later, I found myself on the patio, staring at the skies reflection in my mug of cocoa, thinking about the last time we'd talked.<p>

Three years ago… had it already been that long? Had it _only _been that long? I still felt it like it was yesterday, but it seemed like it had been a lifetime since I'd last seen him.

We were out in front of Sonic Boom- my father had scolded us for scaring away the customers. His face was red and pained and frustrated. I would have thrown my arms around him and pulled him close if I hadn't been the one who had done this to him. But he stood there, two feet across from me, throwing his arms around in frustration: I wasn't getting the point.

I didn't have to be a starving artist. I didn't have to work my way up from the bottom. I didn't have to leave him…

"_Ally!_" Trish poked her head through the sliding glass door, "What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep…" I muttered, bending down to take a sip from the stars in my cocoa.

From the corner of my eye, I saw her shadow move to an empty chair by my side.

"It still hurts, doesn't it?" looking away, pretended not to know what she was talking about, "Come on, Ally… I didn't have to see you every day to know what it did to you. I know you better than that."

I sighed, choosing not to answer her question, yet not necessarily ignoring it either. Instead, I drifted back to our conversation from earlier.

"I did it before, Trish, and I'm not about to do it again."

"If this is what you really want, then why are you sulking around the house like this?" I turned to see her brows creased in genuine confusion. "Shouldn't this be a good thing?"

"He hates me, Trish." I stated, for once getting straight to the point.

"No he do-"

"We hadn't talked since the fight. I tried to call him, but he wouldn't pick up or return my calls. I never got a text or an email or an update…" The power in my voice seemed to fade away as relieved myself of all the emotions that had been weighing me down, "I wouldn't have even known whether or not he was still alive if it weren't for MTV." At that, a laugh escaped me, although it broke my heart to know it was the truth.

Trish's gaze had dropped straight to the concrete, which she now seemed quite fascinated with.

"I don't think he could ever hate you." She spoke softer now, and I suddenly felt quite uncomfortable. "You two had this strange, unbreakable bond that shouldn't have formed, but it did. You two cared for each other like no one else. That's not something that just fades away."

I feel myself shiver at more than just the breeze. Rubbing my arms, I grabbed my mug from the table and stood up.

"I think I should try to get some rest." I break the silence, inching toward the door.

"Yeah… yeah, me too." She mumbled, walking in the door behind me. "I only wanted to make sure that you were alright…"

I locked the door before making my way to the kitchen sink, cup in hand, as she started up the stairs to the guest room.

"Night, Ally," her voice echoed filled the silent house.

"Goodnight, Trish."

* * *

><p><strong>Popular opinion has voted yes for Dallas, so keep your eyes open for a cameo appearance or two by him at some point ;)<strong>

**Also, I'm sorry it took me so long to update- I've been terribly busy. **


	4. Even More Alone

**This is terribly short, I know. It was going to be much longer, but half-way into writing the second half of the chapter, I realized that it was **_**definitely**_** not what would happen next. So I scrapped it for later use. Also, I rewrote the ending so that it was a little bit longer, but I'm not sure how well it flows. Oh well, at least it's an update :)**

**Songs used: Stay by Hurts and Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx**

* * *

><p>"Are you sure it's alright? You don't need some extra help with the new orders? I mean, it's not too late for me to get a taxi back…" I swung my legs compulsively from the edge of the stage as I tried to calculate how soon I could be back at the comfort of the shop.<p>

"Ally, sweetie, you're rambling." I drew my mouth shut as I listened to him, "You act like I've never run the store without you. I think that if I can survive months on my own while you're off at college, I can keep the shop in business for a few days while you're on tour."

"It will _only_ be a few days… then he leaves the state." I mumble, more to calm myself than my father. "I won't be going with him."

"No, actually the eye doctor's a few buildings down. They put the wrong address on their website." I heard his echoing voice, followed by a muffled customer. There's a thud somewhere in the distance that doesn't quite sound like a fallen instrument and I hear Maria calling across the store to see if someone's alright. "I… I've got to go."

Before I could make sure that everything was alright, the line was dead. He'd hung up on me.

With a sigh I stuffed the phone into my pocket.

Standing up, I found the room to be empty. Everyone had left for the dressing room after setting up the instruments.

I walked toward the middle of stage and took in the view. There were thousands of seats here, there had to be. And in just a few hours, the whole stadium would be packed with screaming fans waiting to hear Austin. I would never be able to handle that… I wasn't even sure if that I could handle performing on stage _without_ anyone watching.

As I turned to find the others, a baby grand piano to my right caught my eye. I made my way over to get a better look at it… it was actually quite nice. I took a seat on the piano bench and, once more, took in the view for the stage. My eyes fixated on a key… the center C. I gently pressed it letting the soft note fill the empty stadium.

"_We say goodbye in the pouring rain, and I break down as you walk away._" my fingers roamed the keys producing a familiar melody, "_Stay… _stay." I closed my eyes, swaying with the music as it ran through me, "_Cause all my life, I've felt this way, but I could never find the words to say stay… _stay."

I sighed, reaching the abrupt end to the lone chorus. I'd been trying to work on it for about two years, but could never find the right words to complete it. A few moments later, I began to play another, more familiar song.

"_Oceans apart,_

_Day after day,_

_As I slowly go insane._

_I hear your voice_

_On the line,_

_But it doesn't stop the pain._

_If I see you next to never,_

_How can we say forever?"_

My eyes were shut again, lost in the rhythm and the emotions. My fingers danced across the familiar keys.

"_Wherever you go,_

_Whatever you do,_

_I will be right here waiting for you._

_Whatever it takes,_

_Or how my heart breaks,_

_I will be right here waiting for you."_

I jumped, my fingers landing on a sharp note, as there was a crash of drums behind me. Horrified, I turned to find none other than Austin Moon steadying himself against the cymbal. His cheeks were flushed as bent to pick up the snare that he had tripped over.

"Wh- what are you doing here?" I stammered, all comfort vanished from the room.

"_Actually,_" he began, setting the drum upright, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."

"I was on the phone with my father," I looked away, eyes roaming the stadium once again. I wasn't sure why I was answering. "And when I turned around everyone was gone."

It was quiet for several moments.

"Your turn."

"I was just making sure that all the instruments made it to the stage." The footsteps behind me were noticeably closer. My eyes flickered down to my hands as he strolled into view. "You still play that old song?" His question came out just above a whisper, and I wasn't sure that I would have heard it had me not been two feet away from me, leaning against the piano.

"Not often." I defended, watching my fingers trace the black keys, not daring to discover his current expression.

"I haven't heard it in forever, not since…" his voice trailed off. I bit my lip guiltily as I stole a fleeting glance in his direction. We both knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Do you still write?" He broke the silence, signaling his return to the present.

I blinked, taken back by the abrupt change in conversation.

"Of course… I have to for one of my classes." I shook the feeling that I should actually be working on them right now… I promised my professor that I would keep writing in my spare time.

"Can I hear something?" There was an air of hopefulness in his voice as he made his way to sit beside me on the bench.

"I- I can't." I stammered, wishing that time had made it less easy for him to see through me. "I don't have any music with me… I left my book on the bus."

"Oh." The flat tone of his voice seemed more offended than his words would lead me to believe. "It's okay."

The room lapsed into a long, uneasy silence, as he didn't push the conversation any further. Instead, he mindlessly played a few notes on the piano.

"There all here." I stated, meeting his confused brown eyes for the first time that evening. His eyebrows were puckered in silent question. "The instruments… they're all here."

My stomach dropped at the pained expression that spread across his face. For a moment, I met his empty brown eyes. Maybe I should have ended the conversation differently.

The chord he had been playing faded away and was replaced by the sound of faint footsteps.

"Everyone's in a room just down the hall." I turned to find him standing in the middle of the doorway, "Ask security for directions if you decide you want to join us."

As the door fell shut behind him, I knew I was even more alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Alright, so one major problem that I'm running into is that I have no idea how to write a concert scene without it being so boring that <strong>_**I **_**don't even want to finish reading the chapter. So, my question for the chapter: Is it necessary to have a concert scene, or would it be alright if I just wrote around it?**


End file.
